When playing Larry, you’re hereby advised to defend your h7 pawn at least five times.

Larry Christiansen is an American master of attack. He even published
two widely praised books on the subject of attacking chess, Storming
the Barricades and Rocking the Ramparts.

In chess, there is
much debate as to the relative importance of talent and hard work. A
strong GM needs both but sometimes a player seems more talented than
hard working or vice-a-versa. Larry falls into the talented category.
He improved so quickly as a teenager that he earned the Grandmaster
title at the age of 21, skipping right over the usual stepping stone
title, International Master.

A three-time U.S Champion, Larry
also won many European tournaments. He won the prestigious Linares
tournament twice, once winning clear first and the other time tying
with Anatoly Karpov. He even lived in Germany for a while, playing in
numerous European tournaments and in the most prestigious team
competition, the Bundesliga. He even defeated Karpov in a 14-move
miniature!

Larry is a frequent commentator on chess.fm, a
popular chess writer and an occasional coach. He participates in the
U.S. Amateur Team East each year with his wife Natasha, a strong A
player and lawyer. He and GM Alex Stripunsky were the first elite
American GMs to join the U.S Chess League, where Larry led the Boston
Blitz. In 2008, the Blitz lost a heart-wrenching final match against the Dallas Destiny, but Larry won the "Game of the Year" for his stunning attacking effort on board one against IM Marko Zivanic.

A popular person on the chess scene, Larry likes to have
fun between the rounds of any event, whether it’s exploring a foreign
city with Natasha, finding the best steak in town, or improving his ICC
one-minute record. He has a wry sense of humor helped by his ability to
simultaneously complain about and enjoy any activity.